Large-scale robotics study at Auckland retirement village

The University of Auckland and a cluster of
South Korean companies have launched a multi-robotic study
at an Auckland retirement village.

Researchers are
conducting six separate robotics studies involving 31 robots
sourced from South Korea one from Japan, and 100 staff and
100 residents from Selwyn Village in Auckland. The
large-scale study, which is funded by the Ministry of
Science and Innovation, is believed to be the first of its
kind in the world.

The Healthbots project is an
international collaboration between Uniservices, and South
Korean companies, Electronics and Telecommunications
Research Institute (ETRI), the Yujin Robot Company, ED
Corporation and Isan Solutions.

Head of the Healthbots
project, Professor Bruce Macdonald from the Faculty of
Engineering says it aims to make robots that are helpful
assistants for older people and for their
caregivers.

“We want to help older people to be more
independent where they want to be, and to be happier and
more socially interactive using the robot as a conduit for
interaction. We want to help care staff by doing simple
tasks and giving staff more time to spend on the more human
and more caring things that both staff and older people
prefer to do together.”

Ngaire Kerse, Professor of
General Practice and Primary Healthcare, says the studies
are important because the enhancement of the environment
with stimulating and interactive activities can improve the
quality of life and relieve loneliness for older
people.

“Robots could provide an interesting option and
also be an aid to communication and health
monitoring.”

The Healthbots project was launched in 2008
with initial focus groups and questionnaires to find out
what people wanted in a healthcare robot. A pilot study was
then conducted using one type of robot, Cafero, or Charlie,
as he was called by the researchers, staff and residents.
Charlie performed basic tasks such as taking blood pressure
and entertaining residents with jokes and music.

Dr Liz
Broadbent, a Senior Lecturer in Psychological Medicine, says
robots offer many potential benefits, but there are
challenges to their acceptance in everyday life.

“We
have found that pre-existing ideas and attitudes towards
robots influence how people respond. Another key factor is
how human-like the robots look and sound. These findings
have helped us improve the design of the robots for specific
tasks and highlighted the need to address negative
preconceptions.”

The large-scale study will evaluate
five different types of robots: Friend, Guide, Paro, iRobiQ
and Cafero robots.

The robots can perform tasks such as
recording the residents’ heart rate or blood pressure,
providing entertainment in the form of music videos, and
reminding residents to take their medication and alert
nurses if someone falls. The residents can Skype from some
of the robots, find out what daily activities are on at the
village and play games to help their mental fitness.

The
robots are being placed around Selwyn Village’s Pt
Chevalier premises including in its cafe, medical centre,
hospital and in residents’ rooms and in the communal
spaces.

Some of the robotics studies being carried out
include medication reminder trials, activity trials and
companion trials.

One of the studies involves 28 residents
having a robot in their rooms for a six-week period. The
robots can be used for entertainment, to Skype family and
friends, to listen to music as well as monitor blood
pressure.

The medication trials use robots to remind
residents to take their medication. If residents fail to do
so then the robot alerts the on-site doctor. The robots,
which can monitor their users’ blood pressure and heart
rate, can also send regular reports to the on-site doctor.

The activity trials involve residents wearing armbands
which monitor their whereabouts. If they have a fall then
the monitor bands send an alert to the nurse’s station.
The data is being monitored in conjunction with a hospital
in Germany to see if it is possible to predict a fall before
it happens.

Another trial involves the Paro robot, based
on a Canadian harp seal which has tactile sensors and
responds to being patted by moving its tail and opening and
closing its eyes. The robot, which produces sounds similar
to a baby seal, is being trialled with dementia patients in
the retirement village to see if it has a positive
psychological effect on them. According to overseas studies
the therapeutic robot can reduce patient stress and improve
motivation and relaxation.

“It has all the benefits of
pet therapy but without the cleaning up after it,” says Dr
Bruce Macdonald.

Seed funding for the
Healthbots project was provided by UniServices, the
University’s commercialisation company and ongoing funding
is provided by the Ministry for Science and Innovation as
well as the Korean Government.

UniServices has set up a
partnership programme which allows New Zealand companies to
be involved in the project. Several companies, including
Zephyr, Stickmen Studios, Chiptech, Pulsecor and Panacea,
have signed up so
far.

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